Reading
Subject Rationale
At Stanbury Village School, we use the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds programme alongside Big Cat reading materials as the foundation of our reading curriculum, providing a structured and comprehensive framework for developing pupils’ reading skills. Little Wandle is a rigorously designed phonics programme that fully aligns with the National Curriculum and the Letters and Sounds progression, ensuring systematic teaching of phonics from Early Years through Key Stage 1. It supports pupils in mastering essential decoding skills and developing fluent, confident reading.
Big Cat provides a rich collection of high-quality, engaging texts matched to pupils’ phonic knowledge and reading levels. These texts offer a wide range of genres and themes, enabling pupils to experience diverse and meaningful reading opportunities. Together, Little Wandle and Big Cat provide a carefully sequenced approach that supports pupils in progressing from decoding individual sounds to understanding, fluency, and comprehension.
Our curriculum follows a spiral model, revisiting key reading skills and strategies at increasing levels of complexity to ensure deep and lasting learning. This repeated exposure helps pupils to consolidate phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension skills, building strong foundations for reading fluency and confidence.
We embed a broad range of essential reading skills including phonemic awareness, decoding, blending, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension strategies. Pupils learn to engage with texts for different purposes and audiences, developing critical thinking and inferential skills. We also focus on fostering a love of reading through access to diverse and high-quality literature, promoting lifelong reading habits.
Recognising that some teachers may lack confidence in teaching phonics and reading, our curriculum provides extensive support through clear planning, expert-led training, and carefully matched resources from Little Wandle and Big Cat. This ensures that all staff feel equipped to deliver effective reading instruction that meets the needs of every pupil. Our approach guarantees a high-quality reading curriculum that promotes progress, confidence, and a genuine enjoyment of reading for all learners.
Key Documentation
Intent, Impact and Implementation Statement
Long Term Plan
Skills Progression
